Department seeks participants for survey on Provision of Animal Health and Veterinary Care Services in Ireland

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has recently engaged the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to undertake research on ‘the Provision of Animal Health and Veterinary Care Services in Ireland’.

The research programme will comprise a series of projects and is overseen by a steering committee, which is chaired by Joe O’Flaherty, chair of the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council (and formerly of Animal Health Ireland).

The first project is titled ‘Barriers to Preventative Herd Health Planning within the Dairy Sector in Ireland and Potential Levers for Change’, which aims to better understand the challenges farmers face on animal health issues (e.g., calf health, mastitis, biosecurity, TB, etc.) and what motivates how farmers manage them. As part of this work, the ESRI will survey a sample of farmers over the coming weeks.

Survey invitations will be issued by SMS text message to farmers’ mobile phones, with a link to the ESRI’s online survey, which can be completed either via phone or laptop. The Department asks all farmers to keep an eye out for the SMS, as it is an opportunity for farmers to give their perspective on a variety of animal health challenges.